To All the Clothes I’ve Loved Before

Article and (FaceTime) Photography by Grace Kennedy

Edited by Amelia Twitchen

Taking inspiration from The “Jacquemus At Home” photo series with Bella Hadid, Grace Kennedy uses FaceTime photography to re-evaluate her wardrobe.

Out with the new, in with the old - that is the saying, right? Well, even if it isn't, perhaps it should be. The fashion industry is undergoing a ‘facelift’, one which foregrounds sustainability, and this will hopefully bring a genuine change from within, rather than just being a simple front which seeks to profit from consumers’ increasing demand for more sustainable fashion. 

 If, like me, you had to leave a lot of your belongings behind as you scrambled out of St Andrews in a corona-fear induced hurry, then you’ll have left your favourite fashion pieces and come home to clothes that you may not be completely enamoured with. This, combined with the fact that I have turned to reorganising my wardrobe as another form of procrastination, left me with no other choice than to explore the clothes that I long wrote-off. (Should those old teeny Topshop dresses still have a place in my current wardrobe?) By digging deep into the back of my wardrobe and trawling through the clothes, I have rediscovered a whole array of items long forgotten.

Reacquainting myself with these items made me realise that I actually still like the clothes even though I replaced them with newer and ‘trendier’ items. After all, I never seemed to get rid of them, always convincing myself that I would eventually wear them and now that time has come. 

Topshop dress found at back of wardrobe for being too short

It’s almost second nature for me to dress like a slob, made all the more tempting by the fact that we have been indefinitely confined to our houses. However, in an attempt to recreate a library setting, I’ve been wearing clothes that I would usually wear when leaving the house. Since I don’t have the clothes I usually wear, it has been a readjustment in my wardrobe, and one for the better. I have realised that I am simply throwing these clothes to the back, not because I don’t like them but because I favour newer items over them. This highlights a fundamental problem with the way many of us approach clothes and fashion: our almost insatiable desire for something new means that many beautiful items are so easily neglected once we find the next trendiest thing.  According to Mckinsey & Company, “one in three young women consider clothes “old” after wearing them once or twice” in Britain. What’s staggering about this statistic is that it speaks volumes about our appetite for consumption. It is as if we view clothes based on being new or being the latest piece of clothing, instead of focusing on quality and it being long-lasting. 

Whistles skirt FaceTimes Amelia

Since Instagram has increased in popularity and influence, people are buying more clothes in order to not repeat outfits. The report goes on to note that “One in seven consider it a fashion faux-pas to be photographed in an outfit twice”, but since I haven’t worn some of the clothes in a while, they feel almost ‘new’. Clearly, it is social media that dictates and drives this desire for a constant new look in an attempt to follow the latest trends. But, along with social media, in what I hope is more than a trend and now a lifestyle, there has been a resurgence and encouragement for buying second-hand and sustainable clothing. As obvious as it may sound, there is nothing more sustainable than simply re-wearing what you already own. I clearly liked these clothes when I bought them so why would it be any different now? Even if some items of clothing reflect older trends, which come and go, the important thing to remember is that the trend will most likely come back: fashion is incredibly fluid. The old clothes that I have rediscovered are taking centre stage, whether by choice or not, and I have a newfound appreciation for them.

Am I the only person over 15 that owns something from Hollister??

We need look no further than Jacquemus and Jean-Raymond, who have already implemented actual change. Even before the pandemic, both designers have reduced their number of shows, with Jean-Raymond commentating that, “We found it a lot more beneficial to create one meaningful body of work and distribute it throughout the year, versus releasing four or six [collections] while people are still catching up with the first. We don’t buy clothes at that alarming rate. You have to give [a collection] an incubation time.” He is orchestrating an attitude towards clothing in the fashion industry, an attitude which precedes the seasonal sell-by-date that fashion has become, even if it was met with criticism. Jacquemus, too, noted how it was “refreshing” to create two collections a year - summer and winter - rather than six.

Will our mindset change with the Covid-19 pandemic making instant gratification a lot harder? Jacquemus and Jean-Raymond are certainly paving the way when it comes to a new, more sustainable approach to high fashion with their reduced collections. 

Now, during this crisis, surely this is a message to other designers that they cannot rely on how transient fashion has become. If we can find any, even if very small, silver linings during this time, hopefully it will be a moment of self-reflection to review our consumption and how much we buy unnecessarily. I have made a commitment not to buy any new clothes for the next few months and when I next want to window shop or browse Asos, I will stop and simply ‘browse’ my wardrobe as I already have everything I need.

(Above: Another Topshop dress)

(Above: Red lace detail of a Kimchi Blue dress bought from Urban Outfitters)